Monday, January 26. 2009

YALE LECTURE ON ISRAEL
by David Basch
Freeman Center For Strategic Studies
January 22, 2009

On 1.22.09, I attended a lecture at the Yale Institute for
Interdisciplinary Studies (YIISA) and had the privilege of hearing a
real live Israeli news correspondent give his views of the situation of
Gaza, the history leading up to it, and the likely Israeli reaction at
the polls in February. The speaker concluded that most probably
Netanyahu will come to power, but opined that he is not far from Livni
in his views.

The speaker, a fine looking young man, stressed how close in views the
so-called left of Israel is from the so-called right, how it was that
supposedly right wingers in office have been the ones that put into
orbit many of the programs advocated by the left, including the many
so-called peace processes, as though these failed programs were the
ones that had been most right. The speaker stressed that Israel seeks
peace with the Arabs and that he believed that eventually there will
be peace.

Sunday, January 11. 2009

SICK OBJECTIVE OF OLMERT GOVERNMENT
by David Basch
Freeman Center For Strategic Studies
January 11, 2009

The prime objective of the Olmert government is to deliver an election victory to
Kadima, which had been passive for years against Arab attacks from Gaza. It
was goaded to action because Israelis were beginning to see that this government
is more involved in destroying the conservative Israeli political challenge to its
rule.

What the Olmert government and the leftists wish to do is to discredit the
conservative Jewish opposition by creating a new Arab state on Israel's
territories as a fait accompli, forever proving that God's promises to Israel in the
Bible will never, ever come true. The resulting demoralization of the religious
conservative sector, Olmert and the leftists believe, will leave the secular leftists
as the only credible leadership of the country.

This leftist goal -- being their highest priority -- has resulted in the motivated
blindness of the leftists to the reality of an Arab enemy that does not ever
wish to make peace with a viable Israel and will use every advantage gained
by acquiring strategic Israeli territory to destroy Israel. The left cannot accept this
reality since it exposes itself as incompetent to defend long term Israeli survival.
which is proven by its having brought back Arafat and his terrorist army in the
disastrous Oslo process and in surrendering strategic Gaza.

Saturday, January 10. 2009

Let's strip this fight down to the actual bare facts. You elect a Nazi-like terrorist government, (and I use the comparison precisely), whose primary goal and charter is the destruction of the state of Israel.

They create schools where textbooks expound on the concept of Jews and Christians being monkeys and enemies of Islam who must be destroyed. They establish summer camps that teach 7 year olds the virtues of becoming suicide bombers, actually constructing a sample vest model complete with dynamite sticks, in arts & crafts. They continue to publicly describe Jews on radio, tv and newspapers as something lower than vermin, all of whom must be exterminated.

They spend all their time building tunnels and smuggling weapons to kill innocent civilians in Israel, instead of building businesses and a better life. They fire rockets regularly into Israeli towns and cities to goad Israel into a short-lived response that ultimately becomes a pr coup. They have weekly parades attended by upwards of 100,000 people screaming, "We will destroy the Zionist criminal pigs," and much worse.

Israel will not allow foreign journalists into Gaza. (1) The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) want to protect them. They also want to avoid having Hamas target them, and then blaming the Israelis.

The anti-Semitism of the foreign press corp is Israel is legendary. Repeated instances of outright misrepresentation, distortion and staging events for the cameras are well known. The TV station - France 2 just broadcast a video of toddlers being laid out on a white sheet. The only problem was that scene occurred in 2005 when a Hamas ammunition truck exploded while on parade in Gaza.

When they speak freely, such as was heard on a BBC panel of January 7th when Robert Fisk of the INDEPENDENT gave vent to his vicious views, their bias, if not hatred comes readily apparent. He has also published his vile and false accusations. The Israeli voice on this panel (for balance), Gil Hoffman of the JERUSALEM POST was literally pushed out by the BBC announcer who said he had to leave. Hoffman said: "No, I donít." The BBC moderator let him stay for another 10 minutes and then evicted him. Others on the panel were a clearly anti-Semitic Professor and a presenter for Al Jezzera TV.

Sunday, January 4. 2009

Suddenly, NPR, National Public Radio, is interested in the details of "fear from bombs". Through the years, when the Arab Muslim Palestinians were engaged in suicide bombing of Israeli marketplaces, restaurants, family celebrations, buses - wherever civilians gathered - NPR barely expressed interest in the Terror and feelings of Israeli victims. That's why they call NPR - National "Palestine" Radio.

When Hamas Palestinian Arab Muslims began its daily firing of Kassam Rockets, Katyusha Missiles and Mortars, including Grad missiles from Iran, an onslaught of Terror rained down on Southern Israel for 7 years. But, NPR showed only enough interest so it could tell Congress who funds them:

Friday, January 2. 2009

THE COSMETIC NON-SOLUTION TO GAZA
by David Basch
Freeman Center For Strategic Studies
January 2, 2009

Herb Keinon's RECENT Jerusalem Post article analyzing the leftist
Israeli government tactics in Gaza was not very assuring.

True, Keinon told of this government's desire to degrade, discredit,
and remove Hamas from power in Gaza. But what Keinon doesn't discuss
is what this government intends afterward. This leftist government
wants to eliminate Hamas so it can surrender the area to Abbas's Fatah
group and then proceed to surrender Israel's Eastern territories to
them for a Palestinian Arab state.

What this government wants is a cosmetic, inconclusive settlement that
superficially looks good so that it can pose as the savior of Israel
and win the next election. Many rightly suspect that there is a great
deal of collusion going on in the background with Israel, the
Arabs, and with the US to make this happen.

Thursday, January 1. 2009

DISPROPORTIONATE AGAIN
by Christopher Barder
Freeman Center For Strategic Studies
January 1, 2009

In an echo of the condemnations of the summer 2006 counterattack on Hisballah, Israel has again been condemned for its strikes against terrorist targets in Gaza. Let us be clear: there is no "occupation" of Gaza by Israeli forces; there are no settlements of Jews living there any more; terrorism is not a name for "freedom fighters" since by definition it means attacking civilian targets for political/religious or quasi political purposes and Hamasís rockets are part of an assault against Israelís existence. Hamas is not interested in conference induced peaceful solutions.

Article 13 of Hamasís Charter declares: "Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. Abusing any part of Palestine is abuse directed against part of religion. Nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its religion. Its members have been fed on thatÖ. There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with."

Israel has never targeted civilians; almost uniquely it has made provision to provide the other sideís people with medical and other humanitarian relief despite their constantly polling a minimum of 50% in favour of attacks on Israeli civilians. It has maintained warnings even to the extent of leaving voicemail messages to Gazans not to stay near arms placements (in their homes or elsewhere) because of future attacks. This limits the element of surprise to timing, as opposed to tactical operations, to some degree. Some of these practices may be regarded by some hard-nosed military personnel elsewhere, as excessively diligent, especially if they do not recognise the necessity of "purity of arms" doctrines. It has been well observed that "Western armies are engaged in asymmetric warfare against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda in Iraq, yet no such statements are made with regard to these legitimate battles in the war on terrorism."1